Wild Spring Break Trip and Other Crazy Stuff
by gg180000
Summary: The Core Four and their friends decide to take a nice little road trip over spring break and of course madness ensues. Angst and fluff combine to make an unforgettable (even if they try) experience. Includes Jaylos, Bal, Dougie, and background Chaudrey. Summary always sucks.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: Bonjour my peeps. This is my first attempt at Descendants fanfic so let's all pray I'm not about to waste your lives!**

 **Disclaimer: If I owned this franchise small children would be allowed no where near it.**

Ben stood in the hall outside the girls' room. Just as he raised his fist to knock the door swung open and Mal, his purple-haired girlfriend, stood in front of him. Noticing her raised eyebrow he quickly lowered his hand and cleared his throat.

"Ready to go?" He questioned, adjusting his button-up shirt nervously.

"Yep. Just let me grab the resident diva," She answered, popping the p.

The King's girlfriend disappeared for a moment before returning, dragging a certain blue-haired princess along with her. The Evil Queen's daughter hauled with her far too many suitcases for anyone to count while Mal only had one bag slung over her shoulder.

"Evie, do you really need to bring your sewing machine along?" the purple haired girl sighed in exasperation.

"Yes! We'll be gone for weeks and you never know when inspiration will strike!" Evie retorted, shooting Ben a grateful look as he relieved her of some of the load.

"How about we drop these off in the van before fetching the boys? Chad, Audrey, Lonnie, and Jane are already waiting," the boy suggested, defusing the situation.

Both girls nodded in agreement and they made their way down to the driveway where the cars were parked. On the way they held pleasant conversation regarding plans for their trip over the current spring break.

Once the bags were placed in the open back of the luggage van they made their way back into the boys' dormitory and up to Carlos and Jay's room. They knocked on the door and waited.

After receiving zero response they knocked again. Then again. Finally, after some yelling from Mal, the door swung open to reveal Jay with a few bags slung over his shoulder. Behind him stood Carlos with his nose buried in a textbook. What a nerd. Although the female ex-villains couldn't help but notice the darkening marks spotting his neck and the fading tinge of pink adorning his face along with his messy hair. And even a blind person wouldn't fail to notice to smug smirk of satisfaction Jay was sporting. The two girls exchanged a knowing smirk. They would _soooo_ be using this against the boys later.

Jay looped his free arm around Carlos's shoulder and steered him into the hall, shutting the door behind them. Everyone knew better than to disturb the youngest boy's reading as it was no secret that he could have just as bad of a temper as his mother when irritated. Even so, he still likely wouldn't get physical with it.

The party made their way back downstairs and outside. There they began arguing over driving and seating arrangements. It was eventually decided that in car number one, Ben would be driving with Mal in the passenger seat placing and Chad and Audrey in the back. That was definitely going to get awkward.

In car number two, Jay would be driving with Doug next to him. Evie and Carlos would be in the back. Deep down, Mal felt bad for Doug. The poor son of Dopey didn't know what was coming for him with Jay behind the wheel. Oh well. He'd find out soon enough. Besides, they'd be switching drivers in a few hours anyways.

Ben and Jay exchanged a look and nodded, confirming they'd start driving. Ben pulled out and onto the road first, but he was soon overtaken. Ben's eyes went wide as the second car blazed past, top down and music blasting. Jay was hollering with wild amusement as he zipped down the street. Meanwhile poor Doug clutched his seatbelt for dear life. A petrified look had taken over his features. Carlos and Evie were laughing, enjoying the cool air as it rushed through their hair and whipped their clothes about.

Mal rolled her eyes at her friends' antics but was grinning nonetheless. The Auradon kids exchanged stunned looks at the reckless driving.

' _Oh please,'_ Mal thought, ' _That was nothing._ '

The AK's shock only grew as Ben promptly decided the display was a challenge and floored it, ignoring the voice in his head telling him not to. He managed to catch up after a while and smiled triumphantly as he passed the other car. Not a moment later did he spot the _actual_ car that was being driven Jay and realize the one he just flew past belonged to Fairy Godmother.

" _Oh no,"_ He murmured, going pale.

Mal doubled over laughing.

* * *

After a hurried getaway followed by hours of driving and terrorizing gas station employees, the teens decided to give it a rest and crash at a hotel for the night. Unfortunately, the one they came across only had one room open. Thankfully it had two beds. But that didn't mean all eight teens would be leaving alive.

They grabbed the bags that would be needed for the one-night stay before trudging up a couple flights of stairs covered with a worn rug. Ben slipped the room card from his pocket and unlocked the door before stepping inside with the others in tow.

"So… Who's taking the floor?" The king asked the dangerous question.

It was sad how the VK's were so ready to sleep on the rough, dusty carpet. They didn't have a problem with it after their lives on the Isle, but truth be told they mainly agreed so easily in order to avoid listening to Chad and Audrey whine. Jay was in heaven either way though. Hotels we're the only place where stealing was considered a normal act.

It became apparent that none of the teenagers were quite ready to actually sleep however so the daughter of Aurora suggested they play Truth or Dare out of boredom.

After a brief decision on rules, which was incredibly necessary considering the VKs only knew of a much more "intense" version of the game, they commenced, comfortably sitting in a loose circle spread across the room.

"Audrey, truth or dare?" Mal began without hesitation.

The girl in question looked a tad surprised and not so discreetly frightened.

"Truth," she finally replied, deciding it to be the safer route.

"At what age did you start stuffing your bra?" She asked bluntly.

Everyone in the room simultaneously choked on their spit. Except for Mal who was simply staring at Audrey expectantly and Jay who was clutching his stomach in laughter.

"E-Excuse me!?" Audrey stood, her face turning red from both anger and embarrassment.

"You heard me," Mal shrugged casually, the expectant look never leaving her face.

The daughter of Sleeping Beauty sat back down and mumbled an unhappy answer.

"Ten…" She turned to Jay and he stopped laughing. "Truth or dare?"

"Dare," he replied, smiling cooly.

"Kiss Mal," she smirked.

Jay's face fell, but he wasn't going to chicken out. He reluctantly leaned over and gave Mal a quick peck on the lips, inwardly cringing in disgust.

"Chad, truth or dare?"

Chad hesitated for a moment.

"Dare," he finally chose, thinking it'd make him look brave or something.

"I dare you to try to do the splits and stay like that for five minutes."

Everyone could see the look of dread followed by pain on the son of Cinderella's face as he nodded and slowly lowered himself into what had to be the worst attempt at the splits in the history of ever.

"Weak.." Carlos mumbled, glancing up from the book in his lap.

"Oh like you could do better!?" Chad spat, trying to ignore the fact that he could definitely hear _something_ tearing.

In response, Carlos did the splits all three ways before casually continuing to read. That shut the prince up real fast.

Jay smirked, "You were saying?"

Chad grumbled something under his breath and turned to Evie.

"Truth or dare?" He squeaked, beginning to think the ripping noise wasn't coming from the fabric of his pants.

"Truth," she smiled, rather enthusiastic about the game.

"What's the lowest grade you've ever received?" He asked, his voice filled with poorly disguised Malice.

Evie chewed her lip for a moment.

"D+," she relented, turning to Ben. "Truth or dare?"

"Dare," he shrugged, figuring that Evie would go easy on him.

The blue-haired girl leaned forward and whispered something to him. The king instantly realized he'd completely misjudged her. Mal, who was seated closest to Ben and by default able to hear everything, had to refrain from laughing out loud.

"Wait for the signal," she instructed after delivering the orders.

Once she'd returned to her spot, Ben swallowed and turned to Doug.

"Truth or dare?"

"Truth."

"What's the most embarrassing thing you've ever done?"

It took Doug a pathetic amount of time to decide.

"I threw up on the Coach.." he finally mumbled.

Snickers were heard and sympathetic looks were thrown his way. Poor guy. Evie leaned over and kissed his cheek and he smiled weakly before scanning the room in search of a victim.

"Carlos," he finally decided.

The son of Cruella briefly glanced up. "Dare."

Doug thought for a moment before going with what he thought was most likely to turn out in his favor.

"Let Evie give you a full makeover in the bathroom and don't change it until the end of the game."

The girl practically squealed in excitement as she quickly kissed her boyfriend before snatching Carlos's wrist and dragging him into the hotel bathroom, grabbing her bag as she did so.

The remaining teens carried a casual conversation as they waited for the sounds of distress to cease and the two to return.

* * *

Around 45 minutes later the door creaked open. Evie came bouncing out, a satisfied smile lighting up her face. A moment later the son of Cruella reluctantly shuffled into view. Jay's jaw dropped. The de Vil boy was decked out in a maroon skater skirt that hardly reached his mid-thighs and a black sweater over a white collared shirt. He wore no shoes but had on knee-high socks/stockings, one black and one white, and both dotted with a red-heart pattern.

Jay's gaze travelled up the other's smooth, clean shaven legs to his face. There he found that the boy's full lips had been coated with glossy lipstick and his dark hazel-brown eyes had been somehow made even more alluring with perfectly applied eyeliner. Not to mention the fact that his naturally thick eyelashes had been darkened with mascara. His platinum blond hair, which had grown out since the coronation, was styled in soft waves that managed to be both messy and neat at the same time.

Mal let out a teasing wolf-whistle, smirking when the son of Cruella's cheeks turned a pretty pink. In that moment, the daughter of Maleficent barely managed to catch Evie's wink out of the corner of her eye. Mal's smirk only grew as Ben reluctantly hopped up from his spot on the floor, cupped Carlos's face with both hands, and planted a kiss on the boy's cherry-red lips.

Everyone froze in shock. Carlos was especially stunned. Mal would have laughed at the expression on Jay's face if he hadn't chosen that moment to launch himself at the young King, fists balled. Both Mal and Evie grabbed his arms, shouting that it was a dare before he killed Ben. Carlos shook himself out of his shock and stepped between the two boys, placing a hand on Jay's chest.

"Calm down."

The son of Jafar's piercing glare faded away, his expression softening as his eyes landed on his boyfriend's face. For a split second he glanced back up to shoot Ben another sharp look before firmly wrapping his arm around Carlos's small waist and tilting the younger boy's chin up into a bruising kiss. The message in the action was clear. _Mine. Don't touch._ Mal couldn't help snorting and rolling her eyes at the possessive behavior.

As to solidify his point, Jay sat back down and pulled the dazed blond into his lap. He mumbled something in the smaller boy's ear before dropping his head lower and leaving a rough, wet kiss on his neck. Absolutely no shame whatsoever from the thief.

Carlos, however, was quite flustered. His already rosy cheeks darkened so much they almost matched his lustrous lips. He turned and buried his face in the older boy's shoulder in a desperate attempt to hide the burning blush.

Jay simply locked his arms around his boyfriend and a flashed a smug smirk. He was clearly very satisfied with himself at the moment. Despite this, he still shot Ben one last warning look to which the young king held his hands up in surrender. The long-haired boy nodded, pleased with the other's wordless reply.

"Hey, you kissed _my_ girlfriend first and I didn't attack you," Ben reminded.

"Yeah but my significant other is actually _attractive_ ," Jay fired back teasingly.

Ben narrowed his eyes and opened his mouth; ready to hit him with a come-back that would no doubt be a failed attempt at snarky-ness when Mal stepped in and smacked the thief across the head instead.

Evie sighed and shared a look with Doug. This was going to be a _long_ trip.

 **AN: So what'd y'all think? I know it was probably a bit boring but I promise I'll try to shift it to a more interesting setting in the following chapter. Reviews are always appreciated! :P 3**


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's note: HOLA! I am back with another hopefully not painful chapter! This includes some Jaylos fluff and is mainly just a filler but it should get interesting next chapter! Also, my beta reader is currently out of town so I apologize if this is unbearable.**

 **Guest responses:**

 **To Elizabeth: Thanks so much! I'll try and update as frequently as possible.**

 **To Invited: I appreciate your review! And unfortunately I am not the fastest updater but I hope I delivered!**

 **To pinksakura271: Merci! Your review made me giggle. I'll try and fit more Bal in future chapters for you. I hope you enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: Seriously man if I owned this Disney would burst into a shrieking pillar of flames at the sight of it.**

Jay wasn't too sure why he'd woken up. After all, according to the alarm clock on the rickety hotel nightstand, it was 4:22am. He propped himself up on his elbows and surveyed the dusty room, trying to figure out the cause of his disrupted sleep.

Chad and Audrey were neatly lying side by side in their bed; the covers barely even ruffled. In the second bed, Evie laid just as primly and perfectly as the two royals.

Meanwhile, Doug was sprawled out with his upper half dangling off at the foot of the bed and drool running down his cheek. He was definitely Dopey's son.

Ben was stretched out on the lumpy, green couch pressed against the wall. It couldn't have been comfortable but he was still smiling contently anyways. Jay figured the cause of his joy was like the violet-haired ex-villain lying pressed up against him and partially on top of him while he held her protectively.

The scene made Jay realize his reason for awakening. He too had fallen asleep with someone next to him. (Although on top of him was probably a more accurate way to phrase it.)

The son of Jafar sighed when he noticed the strip of light glowing from beneath the bathroom door. He sighed and pushed himself to his feet before shuffling to the door. There was no sound coming from inside the tiled room, but the thief knew better than to assume that automatically meant no one was occupying it.

After a moment of hesitation, he raised his hand and knocked softly.

At first there was no reply, then the door cracked open and their stood Carlos.

"Jay?" the son of Cruella whispered, "Why are you up? Did I wake you?"

"Carlos…" the long-haired boy frowned, taking in the younger's appearance.

His boyfriend's black and white hair clung to his skin, indicating that he had just gotten out of the shower. Occasional droplets of water would stream down to his neck and disappear into the blue hoodie covering the blond's thin frame.

Wait. Blue hoodie? Carlos didn't own a blue hoodie.

Jay couldn't resist the split-second smile when he realized Carlos had decided to wear one of his hoodies. It was cute okay!? And the son of Jafar _really_ liked seeing his boyfriend in his clothes. Don't judge him!

Upon further inspection, he lost the grin. The boy had dark shadows beneath his eyes which told Jay everything he had been pondering was true.

Carlos hadn't yet been able to break his habits from the isle.

Naturally, there was going to be some residual trauma the VKs would have to deal with. There was no way around it and it wasn't going to disappear overnight. However, Carlos seemed to be having the hardest time overcoming it.

For starters, there were the nightmares. And not the "I dreamt I was naked at school" kind.

No, this is the horrifying aftermath of years of abuse kind of trauma.

The blond would wake up screaming, hyperventilating, panicking, even _sobbing._ Sometimes it seemed as if the boy wasn't even awake at all. Anyone who managed to get close enough to see the glassy look in his eyes knew the son of Cruella wasn't aware of what was actually around him. Instead he was still trapped in whatever sickeningly petrifying scenario or memory his subconscious had to decided to conjure up on that particular night. Due to the frequency of these awful dreams, it wasn't exactly uncommon for Carlos to be sleep deprived.

Another thing that added to the boy's lack of rest was his internal clock. Every morning the boy woke up at 4am sharp and couldn't fall back asleep. It was a habit he'd trained himself into in order to complete the unholy list of morning chores his mother assigned him. If he failed to finish the tasks or keep up with the perfectionist standards of Cruella, well, let's just say it wasn't pretty.

This leads into the next symptom. If Carlos began cleaning or doing some sort of chore, even something simple like folding clothes, he wouldn't be able to stop until he'd cleaned _everything._ One time the headmistress had found the boy dusting and organizing text books in one of the classrooms _at two o'clock in the morning_. Not to mention that fact that she had to request assistance from King Ben in order to escort the blond back to his dorm.

There were other noticeable things if you were looking hard enough for them. Such as the way Carlos would hesitate to eat or the way he'd flinch back when one of his classmates had offered him a high-five, as if he expected to be hit.

Upon seeing the frown adorning the thief's face, the younger boy quickly turned his gaze down to the floor.

Jay sighed and flicked the bathroom light off, throwing them into blackness. He bent down a bit and hooked an arm under Carlo's pajama-pant-clad legs; the other wrapping around his boyfriend's back as he lifted him up bridal style.

The blond opened his mouth to protest before deciding against it and simply resting his head on the thief's bare shoulder. He was close enough for Jay to catch the sharp scent of mint on his breath. The thief shuddered when a drop of water from Carlos's soaked hair slithered down his back as he sat down with the smaller boy in his lap.

"Do you think you can go back to sleep?" Jay murmured, being careful to keep his voice low in order to avoid waking the others.

He heard his boyfriend take a breath before stuttering out a negative answer. The son of Jafar hummed and laid down slowly, pulling the younger down with him. He hooked an arm firmly around the boy's waist, tugging the spare comforter over them with his free hand.

"Then let's just try to relax." Jay smiled, planting a kiss atop the son of Cruella's blond little head.

* * *

The thief had to give the boy credit for his patience. He'd expected Carlos to begin fidgeting within the first five minutes, but the boy had managed to remain placid for a little over half an hour before starting to squirm.

Jay hummed quietly and brought a hand up to rub circles into the smaller boy's back. He'd been waiting for the blond to become agitated. See when he woke up early like this, he immediately felt an intense urge to do _something._ This was typically cleaning, something he could get away with doing when his boyfriend slept in. As a result, they had one of the cleanest rooms in the entire boys' dormitory despite Jay's messy habits.

For awhile they just stayed like that, the son of Jafar trying to soothe the younger boy in a vain attempt to get him to relax once more.

It didn't work.

This became exponentially clearer to the long-haired male when Carlos made a weak attempt to pull away. He didn't allow his boyfriend to flee. Instead he eased the two of them into a sitting position with the blond in his lap.

"How bad?" the older boy asked softly.

All he received in response was a head shake followed by Carlos refusing to look up at him. Well that pretty much answered the question. It was _bad;_ overwhelmingly so.

Jay thought for a moment before getting an idea. The son of Jafar carefully moved his boyfriend off of him before grabbing Doug's bag and sifting through it while Carlos watched in silent confusion. After searching for a minute or so, he found what he was looking for and pulled out the colorful toy which he then offered to the blond.

"It's called a rubiks cube. You're supposed to twist it until you get all nine square things of the same color on the same side for all sides," Jay attempted to explain.

The younger boy nodded in understand and studied the cube for a moment before beginning to work on solving it.

Long story short, he'd solved it in about fifteen minutes. Twenty tops.

So Jay scrambled it up again and the process repeated itself.

* * *

Evie sat up in bed and stretched with yawn. She glanced over at the clock which read 5:30. Carlos wasn't the only one with a habit of waking up early. The Evil Queen had drilled a set beauty routine into her daughter's head, and despite Evie's attempts, the girl was always up bright-eyed and early to complete the long task.

Granted she'd practically cut the list of things to do in half so she truly had no reason to be awake at such an hour. But as the saying goes, old habits die hard.

Evie's gaze drifted to Doug and an amused smile grazed her features. _What a goof…_

"Morning, Princess," A voice from the other end of the room spoke quietly.

The blue-haired girl turned towards the direction of the sound, rubbing the sleep from her eyes as she did so.

She was surprised by what greeted her.

Carlos was seated on the no-doubt uncomfortable arm chair with the hideous print that was pushed back into the corner. On the floor between his legs the son of Jafar sat with his back against the chair while nursing a cup of some drink. Evie assumed it was likely coffee.

What surprised her about the situation however was the fact that the shorter boy appeared to be combing Jay's hair. Upon further inspection, the Evil Queen's daughter realized that not only was Carlos in fact brushing his boyfriend's hair, he was braiding it also.

The fact that _Jay_ was up this early only added to her astonishment.

She'd of course expected Carlos to be awake as the two typically used the spare time they had in the morning to bond by embracing their fashionista sides. This usually meant designing, sewing, and trying on outfits. (It also meant binge watching Project Runway but that's probably not something they'd brag about anytime soon.)

Evie hummed a reply and pushed herself out of bed. She shuffled over, her navy nightgown somehow billowing around her feet despite there not being any draft.

"So you let the mini mad scientist over here style your hair, but won't even tell me what kind of shampoo you use?" the girl teased, quirking an eyebrow.

Jay just sent her a cheeky grin and took another swig from the foam cup in his hand. _The little shit._

Evie narrowed her eyes, but didn't allow him to get any further rise out of her.

Now that she was closer and more awake, she couldn't help but notice the dark circles under the son of Cruella's eyes.

She discretely shot Jay a concerned, questioning look. The thief could only sigh and shrug in response. Evie pressed her lips into a thin line, deciding to ask Mal if she knew any sleep spells that wouldn't last a thousand years.

Carlos finished the braid and tied it off with one of the many bands around his thin wrist.

"Ohhhh… So that's why you have those," Evie realized.

The blond nodded, "Yeah.. Jay's not really allowed to have his hair down for tourney anymore and he always forgets or loses them."

"Typical Jay."

"Hey!" the thief cried out indignantly, totally _not_ pouting at the blue-haired girl.

The daughter of the Evil Queen just flashed him a million-dollar, pearly white smile before grabbing her bag and strutting off into the bathroom, locking the door behind her.

The son of Jafar twisted around to look at his boyfriend in hopes of receiving condolence. The younger boy rolled his eyes playfully and leaned down to give Jay a peck on the lips. The older boy smiled brightly… Until he realized the blond had stolen his coffee.

Carlos giggled and took a sip before making a face and hurriedly returning the offending drink.

"Even the _goblins_ made better coffee."

The long-haired boy couldn't help but laugh.

* * *

A few hours later, the teens were all up and back on the road. This time around Jay was _not_ allowed to drive. He looked ready to protest this until Mal told him Carlos, being the lightest, would have to sit on _someone's_ lap because what had been dubbed "the luggage van" was too heavy and Evie's sewing machine would be taking up a seat in the car.

She nonchalantly added that Ben likely wouldn't mind holding the boy for a couple of hours and the deal was pretty much sealed. Hell, she couldn't even get the entire sentence out before Jay was snatching his boyfriend and yanking him into his lap.

Mal laughed and climbed in the front next to Ben who was driving. In the other car Chad was driving with Doug, Evie, and Audrey as his passengers. However, he and Doug quickly switched places because the son of Cinderella was unable to focus on the road whilst surrounded by so many mirrors.

 _Pathetic._

* * *

Some time after sunset they arrived at the golden gates of an elaborate palace. Ben's home.

Belle and Beast had insisted upon having dinner with Ben and his friends, particularly Mal and the rest of the VKs.

After some encouragement from their son the two had decided that they actually wanted to get to know what life on the isle was like. And what better way to do so than to meet with its past residents?

The gates were opened as the cars passed through them and circled up a smoothly paved, circle-drive similar to the one at Auradon Prep. The arriving teens were greeted by uniformed servants and quickly ushered inside.

Inside the entry hall stood the famous Beauty and Beast themselves. This was going to be an interesting interaction.

 **AN: So how was that? Let me know in the reviews! Also, should I make the chapters longer? Right now they're a little over 2,000 words and I'm wondering if I should bump it up to 3,000. Tell me what y'all think!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: Guten Tag! Hello readers! I hope you're enjoying this so far. Prepare for drama, angst, and mentions of abuse.**

 **Disclaimer: If I owned this, there would be a shit ton more swearing.**

The teens were incredibly glad when Ben informed them that it wasn't going to be a formal dinner. If it was they might have exploded from their already insane nerves. The fact that they were exhausted from traveling all day wasn't helping either.

Adam and Belle smiled warmly, yet warily, when the group approached. Ben smiled and hugged each of his parents in turn, giving his mother a kiss on the cheek, before turning and introducing his friends.

The retired royals waved to the visitors politely, exchanging a few words of greeting. Soon enough they were ushered inside the palace.

What they saw there made the VKs blanche and freeze in place.

The heroes their parents had terrorized years ago stood before them, studying them cautiously.

Ben quickly snapped his attention to his parents in search of answers. However, the two seemed completely unfazed by the presence of the royals. Instead of explaining the situation to the clearly confused (and petrified) VKs, Adam merely clapped his hands to gather everyone's attention before proclaiming his statement.

"Let's eat!"

* * *

Once everyone was seated and served at the long, mahogany table which was cloaked in deep blue, the tension only grew. It was uncomfortably silent and the occupants were all quite stiff. Especially because they were all seated directly across from the main cause of said uneasiness.

Once again it was King Beast who sliced through the iron curtain.

"So! Children, why don't you tell us all about what your lives on the Isle were like?" he prompted bluntly, earning a reprimanding look from his wife.

The four exchanged looks with each other, silently coming to an agreement. It was Mal who went first.

"Well.. Um.. Things are different on the Isle of the Lefto-Lost!" she hastily corrected herself.

Ben frowned and gave his girlfriend a confused look. He was met with a blank expression, hiding any trace of emotion. Realizing he wouldn't get an answer from the purplette he swiveled his head to the side in an attempt to get an explanation from the other VKs. All he received however were diverted gazes.

Finally he turned to his parents, and their guilty expressions told him his guess was correct.

"Mom? Dad? What does she mean by 'Isle of the Leftovers'?"

It was Jay who ended up deciding to cut in and answer for them.

"She _means_ that all the Isle gets is Auradonian garbage. Everyone there started calling it by the name years ago," He rolled his eyes, the bitterness evident in his tone.

Evie dug her heel into his foot as her way of telling him to can it.

The young King was too stunned to speak for a long while. The daughter of Maleficent took it as her cue to continue.

"Anywho… Stealing, cheating, lying, scheming, and all that other bad stuff is strongly encouraged and taught as subjects in school. Expressing such as sadness, joy, and love along with any kind of goodness is quite frowned upon. Uh… My mother was always scolding me for not being evil enough no matter what I did… And that's about all I have to say."

The royals in the room joined Ben in his moment of silence.

Once again Jay broke it after wisely tucking his feet under his chair.

"You're up Eves!"

The blue-haired girl sighed with unhappiness, shooting her boyfriend a grateful smile when he reached out to hold her hand.

"Well… When I was six I was banished to a castle on the outskirts of the Isle along with my mother. I was castle-schooled until I was sixteen. Within that time, I was mostly taught about cooking, cleaning, sewing, and makeup. The Evil Queen isn't known for being vain for nothing. Her idea was that if I married a prince, she could regain her royal status.. But other than the high standards and constant criticism… She was pretty okay…" She trailed off, not wanting to go into detail.

Thankfully, it seemed to be enough to satisfy the room's occupants.

Without missing a beat and by default not giving the disturbed residents of the room who hadn't been previously aware of their atrocious pasts a chance to recoup, Jay began his sob story unprompted.

"Having someone as greedy as Jafar as a father means constant stealing and increasingly high expectations. Occasionally I'd get the whole 'You're a disappointment and a failure' speech along with a variety of Arabian swearing when I didn't meet the daily status quo… But other than that, he never really did much.." He finished the tale with a casual shrug and an unfazed grin.

Of course all the VKs in the room knew that 'he never really did much' had an unspoken 'including loving his son' at the end of it, but none of them said anything about it. They may have accepted the fact that their parents never have and never will love them… But that didn't mean that it wasn't a punch to the gut every time they'd think about that little tidbit of info.

It was silently decided among the four to shove the thought out of their heads and instead focus on praying that the table had had enough. No one needed to know about the horrors that took place in Hell House.

Silence once again took the room by the throat for a long period of time.

By the time anyone dared to open their mouth to speak everyone had finished their meal.

Belle, not wanting to be rude, decided to ask the youngest VK what his life on the Isle had been like.

However, good intentions can't always had a positive outcome. Even in a place as magical as Auradon.

The son of Cruella instantly froze up; every muscle in his body tensing. He stuffed his shaking hands beneath the table in an attempt to hide the tremors whilst blindly seeking out his boyfriend's hand.

He'd be lying if he said it didn't startle him even a little bit when Jay grabbed his hand in a tight, yet soothing, grip.

The thief straightened **(HA!)** in his seat and turned to face the retired King and Queen.

"He'll pass," his voice was firm and left zero room for argument.

King Beast was having none of it.

"Let Mr. de Vil answer my wife's question, please," he matched the long-haired boy's tone.

An intense stare-down began. Thankfully, Carlos squeezed Jay's hand and shot him reassuring smile before things could escalate further. Talk about taking one for the team.

The blond boy opened his mouth to speak. Then he closed it and bit his lip instead. Once more he made an attempt to speak and luckily words came out.

"W-Well um… The-The uh.. isolation didn't exactly h-help C-Cruella's mental state. And n-neither did the lack of me-medical attention.."

He paused to take a deep breath, deciding to keep it short and to the point.

"Let's just say that taking a legally insane, psychotic, narcissistic, control-freak, ill-tempered, violent, alcoholic woman who attempted to steal and skin a bunch of puppies, tossing her away to a filthy island, and then allowing her to have a child is the both stupid and heartless."

These words word said in an eerily calm voice. Though if one listened very closely, they could pick up on the underlying dash of venom mixed with what seemed to be alleviation.

Carlos never would have dreamed how good it would feel to say that aloud. And to the face of the one responsible nonetheless.

This time the silence in the room lasted for what must've been a century.

Finally, the son of Jafar shifted his gaze to give the king and queen a stone-cold glare.

"You asked."

The only sound after that was Anita Radcliffe's heart-wrenchingly sorrowful, choked sobbing.

* * *

Shortly after dinner, Ben showed his friends to their rooms. Chad, Audrey, and Doug all had their own rooms whilst the VKs were split into pairs based on gender.

The king had figured they wouldn't want to be alone in a new place, and he was right.

Which is why he wasn't fazed in the least bit when he and his mother were making rounds to check on the guests before bed and found the girls' shared room vacant.

His mother had seemed quite alarmed by this and nearly called security before he could reassure her.

Once he'd managed to convince her that nothing was amiss, the duo continued on to the boys' room.

Ben knocked in a repetition of soft-loud-soft four times before entering. His purple-haired girlfriend stood to greet him, giving him a chaste kiss before returning to the abandoned sketchpad at the foot of the room's king-sized bed.

She was already dressed for bed in green pajama bottoms and a dark purple tank top. Behind her on the bed sat the other three VKs.

Jay was shirtless with loose-fitting, maroon pants. His boyfriend rested against him. The blonde was wearing black sweatpants and a white, long-sleeved tee.

Evie whom was dressed in satin nightgown covered by a matching navy robe sat across from Carlos. The two best friends shared idle conversation while giving each other manicures.

Belle was quite stunned when she noticed the girls' overnight bags in the room and realized they actually had full intentions to spend the night with the boys. At first she'd thought they were simply hanging out, but now she understood that the arrangement was less appropriate.

Just as she was about to tell the girls to return to their separate room her son reached out and set a hand on her shoulder to gain her attention.

"I can assure you they aren't going to do anything. They're simply on edge due to being in a new place and need the comfort of being all together in order to sleep peacefully," he murmured to her softly so the others couldn't hear.

She didn't like it, but she understood that the isle kids were probably a little frightened, so she nodded and let it go.

* * *

It was nearly three in the morning when Belle bolted out of bed, shaking her husband awake, and darting down the hall towards the cause of her sudden awakening. Horrible, blood-curdling screams filled the hall, increasing in volume as she got closer to their origin.

Her husband's heavy footfalls soon pounded the ground alongside her. Moments later her son's joined them and surprisingly so did Aladdin and Roger's.

The queen's face-fell when she realized the sound was coming from the VKs' bedroom.

Adam didn't hesitate to bust through the door and spill into the room. The group behind him filed in.

What they saw made their hearts break and their stomach's lurch.

The youngest VK was thrashing about on the bed, letting out agonizing screams in between broken, hysterical sobs.

An anxious Mal was at the foot of the bed, pinning his legs with some difficulty. Meanwhile, Evie and Jay were up by Carlos's head, desperately trying to wrestle the boy's hands away from his tear-streaked face before he could draw any more blood with his fingernails.

The two were attempting to remain calm; doing their best to keep their voices even while they whispered soothing words to the blond. The son of Jafar's expression remained stony, but his eyes shone with an awful mixture of concern and anguish. Evie on the other hand was having a much harder time keeping the worry off her face, but the tears pooling in her eyes didn't fall.

Mal's head shot up when the door shot open and slammed into the wall. Immediately her entire demeanor took a 180 and became fierce. She glared at the intruders with ominous, glowing green eyes.

"OUT! ALL OF YOU! GET OUT AND GO BACK TO MINDING YOUR OWN DAMN BUSINESS!" she ordered.

None of the newcomers moved, to horrified by what they were witnessing to process the command.

The daughter of Maleficent snarled, looking ready to go full dragon on them.

Thankfully, it didn't happen because at that moment the shrieking boy on the bed seemed to come to his senses.

He writhed for another moment before his eyes snapped open and took in the faces above him.

"J-Jay? E-Evie?" he managed to stutter out between gasping breaths.

"We're right here, Freckles. You're okay. It was just a bad dream. She's not here, baby. She can't hurt you anymore," the older boy soothed, carding his fingers through his boyfriend's hair.

He scooped the blond up when he began to panic and sob once more despite the reassurance.

"Shh… You're okay…" he murmured softly, pulling his boyfriend into his lap and cradling the smaller teen to his chest.

Deciding their assistance was no longer crucial, the two girls stood up and unceremoniously shoved the royals out of the room. Once they'd all been forced out, they locked the door and wedged a chair up against it.

It wasn't that they had anything against them or anything. It was simply because it was a personal moment and they shouldn't be audience to it. The purple-haired girl made a mental note to have a talk with Ben in the morning.

Until then, all they could do was try to go back to sleep and forget about the whole ordeal.

 **AN: What'd you think? Let me know. R &R! Toodles!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: Hola mi amigos! Sorry this update took so long! But I hope the longer chapter makes up for it and isn't just doubling the annoyance. Anywho, there were some parts of this chapter I couldn't get to flow quite right, so... Good luck!**

 **Disclaimer: Disney and Justin Timberlake are the overlords.**

The next morning, any evidence of the previous night's ordeal was completely gone.

Any bruises, scratches, or dark circles had been hidden by Evie's skill with concealer.

The only thing that even hinted at the incident was Carlos's blatant exhaustion at breakfast. The boy had hardly even touched his food except when he nearly face planted into it.

He would have too had his blue-haired best friend not yanked it out of the way whilst Mal grabbed the back of his collar.

The son of Jafar had made a judgement call and decided to swing the blond over his shoulder and return him to bed.

Although he hadn't quite expected Carlos to make a comment about it being a nice view.

The thief was rather unused to this kind of thing from his oh-so-shy boyfriend, and thus nearly doubled-over from shock and embarrassment.

Thankfully, he'd managed to ignore the snickers from the table and the sound of Mal choking on her food.

After the son of Cruella had taken a quick four-hour nap, he was charged and ready to go.

* * *

It was around noon when Ben decided to introduce the villain kids to another new thing in Auradon.

After making sure everything was in order and good to go, he stepped into the temporary room the four were sharing and instructed them to change into athletic clothes before meet him on the patio.

The VKs complied and were outside in about 30 minutes. It would have been faster, but you couldn't exactly rush beauty-queen Evie or perfectionist Carlos and keep your head.

Besides, the young king wasn't exactly one to complain.

They all met him outside along with their other road trip companions who had been informed of activity right after them.

For a moment, they were confused as to what they would be doing in the pretty bare space. Then Ben led them down a set of stairs and along a cobblestone path that led out into the wooded area lining the property.

Eventually, they'd reached a sunny clearing. From there they could see the balcony that wrapped around one side of the castle and were slightly surprised to see the visiting royals watching them.

They did their best to ignore the eyes following them and instead focus on what they were currently doing.

Within the clearing sat a _large_ trampoline. Jay couldn't help, but think that his dad's shop could easily fill the space it took up at least five times.

Next to it was an equally giant pool.

That of course made the Isle kids a little anxious and they all mentally noted to make sure and keep their distance.

"So I'm assuming you guys have never been on a trampoline before?" Ben sent the Core Four a questioning look.

They shook their heads in response.

The young king nodded.

"You'll figure it out yourselves pretty easily. Basically, you just take off your shoes, climb up, and jump on the black part."

He demonstrated as he spoke, earning stunned looks from the VKs as he sprung into the air.

"Is that… safe?" Mal questioned suspiciously, always doing her best to make sure her gang was going to be out of harm's way.

Her boyfriend sent her a reassuring smile and nodded as he slid off the trampoline and jogged over to a nearby tree with bare feet. It was then that his friends noticed the boom-box hidden in a little cutout. The young king pressed a couple of buttons, and suddenly music began blaring.

Once everyone had gotten over being startled by the sound, they removed their shoes and tentatively climbed up onto the tramp' at Ben's request.

* * *

It wasn't long before the teenagers were all having a great time. The Aurdonians had been quite impressed by the Isle kids acrobatic skills.

The Core Four had performed all sorts of stunts and tricks. At one point, Jay had timed his jumps with Mal so she went flying over the edge.

The watching royals all gasped and felt a surge of panic at the sight.

But the daughter of Maleficent nearly pushed off the surrounding net as a vault and rolled to her feet once she'd hit the grass. The wicked grin never left her face.

Ben on the other hand, had to slow his heart rate before offering a hand to help her back up.

He might have reprimanded the thief for doing something so risky, had his girlfriend not been laughing so happily at the adrenaline rush.

They continued jumping and twisting through the air for a couple of hours, managing to time their movements to the rhythm of the music pounding in the background.

All the while the visiting royals studied them.

They couldn't help but be stunned by how.. normal the VKs were.

Sure, they were a little advanced in the athletic department, and they were sorta rough around the edges, but for the most part.. They were pretty average teenagers as far as they could tell.

Aurora and Philip both noticed how Mal kept an eye on her friends at all times to make sure they were safe..

They also couldn't possibly ignore the doe-eyed way Ben looked at the purple-haired girl, and how she sent him equally loving looks.

It was absolutely precious.

Snow White and her darling husband paid close attention to the way Evie smiled and sprung around. Occasionally, she'd take her unofficial little brother/best friend's hand and spin him around or grab her clumsy boyfriend's hands and jump with him until they both ended up falling down in fits of giggles.

Completely adorable.

Aladdin and Jasmine watched Jay flip around with his signature smug grin plastered to his face. They both chuckled in amusement while watching him wrestle with Carlos, eventually just deciding to pick the smaller teens up and begin jumping as high as possible after a well aimed kick to the shin.

The two weren't quite sure what the relationship between the two boys was actually all about… Until the son of Jafar decided to do a backflip without warning and ended up having to kiss his boyfriend so he would stop smacking his chest and shoulders whilst demanding to be put down.

That answered their unspoken questions pretty quickly.

Despite all this, Aladdin couldn't help but notice the way Jay's eyes lingered on the objects around him or how his expression would briefly morph into one of inner turmoil before he snapped his gaze away from whatever had caught his attention. It was the same thing he himself did for so long. Sometimes he'd still catch himself reaching for a piece of jewelry or slipping a piece of food into his pocket.

That answered the Arabian prince's private worries.

These kids in front of him had to steal and fight for _everything_ on that hellish rock they'd come from.

The man deeply regretted voting in favor of the Isle's creation and condemning these children to an upbringing far worse than even his own.

Anita and Roger both paid close attention to the youngest of the Core Four.

Although it was for very different reasons.

Anita was attempting to gauge the boy's mental state. It wasn't because she wanted an excuse to send him back to the Isle or anything like that, but because she knew mental illness was hereditary.

Mrs. Radcliffe definitely didn't hate Cruella despite what she'd done. Not by a long shot. The woman had been her friend all throughout her years in school. Then she became sick. And she wouldn't help herself by allowing anyone to help her.

Anita saw this as a second-chance. She may not have been able to help Cruella, but she could damn well do right by her friend's son. She'd seen the way the boy would flinch away from other's when they went to touch him, and how his demeanor would shift dramatically at sudden movements or loud noises for a split-second before he regained his composure.

The thing that scared her the most however was how the pale boy's eyes would sometimes glaze over as he stared at nothing for long periods of time. She'd noticed it the night before at dinner after he'd spoken about his mother. Cruella had begun doing that right before she started to spiral downwards.

It absolutely terrified Anita. She made a mental note to speak with Ben about perhaps having Carlos sent to a psychologist or something. After all, better safe than sorry.

Roger on the other hand was trying to decide whether or not Carlos was as good as the young King had said.

He trusted Ben of course, but the boy was still naive and inexperienced.

That was part of why Mr. Radcliffe had rushed out of bed so quickly upon hearing the white-haired boy's screams. They reminded him an awful lot of Cruella's hysterical shrieks whenever she'd have a fit of anger.

The couple had brought one of their dalmatians along with them, and Roger wasn't quite ready to risk letting the de Vil be around Chewy yet. Especially since he had spotted fur lining the insides of the boy's jacket. Granted, he had no clue if it was faux or not, but he wasn't taking any chances. There was no way in hell he'd let the blond hurt his dog.

Which was why he was so alarmed when said animal began charging full speed towards the teenagers, barking and tongue flapping.

His concern turned into confusion when the small teen let out a half-scream and clung to his boyfriend, going rigid with panic.

The youngest of the group may have gotten used to Dude, but this dog was quite a bit larger.

Not only that; it matched the description of the specific breed his mother spoke of the most when she was brainwashing him by filling his head with lies about canines so she could use his fear to control him.

Just because the logical part of his mind told him there was no reason to be afraid didn't mean he wasn't completely petrified at the moment.

Thankfully, the son of Jafar quickly got the message and hugged the freckled boy tightly, doing his best to whisper comforting things in an attempt to calm the shorter teen.

Ben hopped down to the grass and quickly slid his shoes back on before chasing down the dog.

Chewy was currently having the time of his life running circles around the young king and jumping up to set his front paws on the edges of the trampoline. Barking and drooling all the while.

After watching her boyfriend be bested by a mutt for a few minutes, Mal decided to have pity and end her amusement.

The purple-haired girl leapt to the young king's side and let out a shrill whistle.

Instantly, the dog perked its ear and trotted over before sitting at her feet with its tongue lolled to the side.

Ben was totally _not_ pouting as he shuffled over to his girlfriend and grabbed the canine by the collar.

He led the panting creature a ways away before gesturing the Radcliffe's over.

Making sure to grab a leash on the way, the couple quickly jogged down the stairs, outside, and over to the young king.

When they arrived, Roger quickly kneeled down and clipped the rope in his hand to the dog's collar before standing up.

"W-What was that..? Carlos's reaction?" Anita questioned, worry lines appearing on her forehead.

Ben sighed and shifted his weight to one leg, trying to figure out how to put it. Eventually, he just decided to be upfront about it. 'Honesty is the best policy' as they say.

"His mother told him a bunch of lies about dogs until he ended up developing a severe phobia of them. He's warmed up to the campus mutt, but getting him over his fear is still a work in progress," he explained.

The pair both frowned at his words. How could someone say bad things about such sweet animals? Then again, they were talking about Cruella here.

They simply nodded their understanding and started making mental plans on where to keep Chewy. Anita found this to be a good time to bring up what she'd been thinking of earlier.

"Hey Ben, have you thought of maybe getting Carlos into a psychologist or something like that? I don't want to sound as if I don't trust him, but statistically, his odds for developing mental disorders are rather high.." She suggested softly, doing her best not to come off as hostile.

The young royal mulled the idea over for a few moments before coming to a decision.

"I haven't really considered it if I'm being honest, but I'll talk to him and see how he feels on the matter."

The woman was somewhat disappointed, but she accepted the answer.

* * *

It was around three in the afternoon when the teens all came back inside and nearly dinner time when they'd finally finished showering.

And that was with shared showers.

Granted the fact that Audrey and Chad had each taken two hour showers despite having done nothing but suntan all day didn't help.

Fucking prissy princes and princesses.

They were about to begin getting dressed for a more formal dinner, as it was the status quo for royal visits, but Ben suggested that instead they all go out to eat at a local diner/karaoke bar.

Everyone instantly agreed since no one really enjoyed such uptight things.

Even royalty needed a casual meal every once in awhile.

So after a brief, yet incredibly awkward car ride, they were all seated at a table in the restaurant.

The relaxed atmosphere of the place combined with food seemed to put everyone at ease and smooth over the tension.

It wasn't long before the manager announced that karaoke night was beginning.

Jay, being the cocky son of Jafar he is, immediately hopped up to go fill out a little form to put him on the list.

Although none of his friends really understood why he was being so smug considering his lack of vocal range and ability to carry a tune.

A few songs had passed before the thief was called up to the mic.

He strutted up onto the stage with all the confidence in the world and took the microphone off its stand.

The music started and everyone at the table groaned. The rest of the customers and employees cheered and let out whistles and cat-calls when they recognized the tune.

" _I'm bringing sexy back!"_

His singing was an absolute train wreck and everyone knew it.

But the audience's positive feedback continued for a different reason.

The reason being that Jay's dancing would've made even the most talented stripper so envious they'd worship the very ground he walked on in a desperate attempt to get a few words of wisdom.

The worst or best part of it, depending on how you looked at it, was that he never broke eye contact with Carlos for during the song.

However, Evie was genuinely afraid the blond boy would pass out from all the blood rushing to his face so she took pity on him and covered his eyes.

Then she covered Mal's because the daughter of Maleficent looked rather nauseous and the blue-haired girl quite liked the shoes she was wearing thank you very much.

To the relief of everyone's eardrums, the song finally came to an end.

The Arabian teen placed the mic back on the stand before leaping off the stage and heading back over to the table.

He instantly received some rapid fire slaps and punches from Mal and Evie as he sat down next to Carlos.

He pouted and turned to his boyfriend in search of consolation, wrapping an arm around the smaller teen out of habit.

Big, mocha-rimmed, hazel eyes with flecks of gold, brown, and streaks of black peered up at him through dark lashes tipped with barely noticeable white. The thief forgot to breathe at the sight.

Then he had an elbow sharply rammed into his gut and he _couldn't_ breathe.

"Cocky bastard," Carlos muttered, sipping his iced tea.

For the second time that day, Mal choked on her food at Jay's expression.

* * *

It was getting close to the end of the night when the manager approached the table. He'd recognized Roger Radcliffe and had politely requested the man perform one of his most well-known songs.

The musician had been so flattered that he'd agreed without a second thought and stepped up to the microphone.

He smiled as the tune thrummed throughout the room and began to sing the oh-so-familiar lyrics.

" _Cruella de Vil.. Cruella de Vil.. If she doesn't scare you, no evil thing will…"_

Roger had been so caught up in the music, he hadn't realized he'd made a mistake until he'd returned to the table and the thunderous applause had died down.

The first thing he noticed upon returning to his seat was the venomous glare his normally sweet and mild-tempered wife was giving him.

Mr. Radcliffe knew he was definitely in the doghouse.

For what, he wasn't sure. Not until Anita leaned close to him and spoke.

" _Do you really think that was an appropriate song to sing!? Look what you've done!"_ she hissed, gesturing towards the VK boys.

Roger felt his stomach twist with guilt.

The son of Cruella had his face buried in his boyfriend's chest, his shoulders shaking as the taller teen hugged him and murmured things Roger couldn't quite make out.

The musician was about to apologize when the blond leaned away from the thief and wiped his eyes.

The guilt mixed with confusion when he realized the boy was… _smiling_? And… _giggling_?

Roger was currently more lost than Jay in math class.

"God, I love that song.." Carlos let out a happy sigh, finally catching his breath.

All the Auradonians were beating the son of Jafar by a landslide after hearing that.

"Y-You do..?" Audrey stammered, failing to hide her shock.

"Yeah. It's my favorite song," the pale boy answered casually, leaning into his boyfriend.

"Why?" Belle couldn't help but ask.

"I used to whistle it around my mother. She'd lose it and destroy the room, but it was fun to watch if I could escape the house in time. Granted, I'd have to clean up the mess and would pay for it later… But it was worth it," he grinned, "Plus it's catchy."

The Auradonians were stunned. Especially the Radcliffes.

It ended up being Roger who broke the silence.

"Can we adopt you?" he blurted.

It was Carlos's turn to be stunned.

"W-What? Why would you wanna do that?" he asked with a nervous smile, confusion lacing his tone.

"Well you seem like a good kid. And I know Anita just _loves_ you already.." the man shrugged, getting a light smack on the shoulder from his wife.

The blond really had no clue how to react, so he just smiled and shook his head.

"You know what? Go ahead if you want," he laughed.

Anita paused, "Wait, really?"

The freckled teen nodded, taking a sip of his drink.

Roger smiled, "Well alright then!"

* * *

They all headed back to the castle at the end of the meal. The Radcliffes wanted to speak to Carlos during the ride, but the VKs had all passed out on each other, exhausted from the day. It was adorable.

Until they got back to the palace and Aladdin was granted the possibly-fatal task of waking the children of Maleficent and Jafar.

 **AN: How was that? Thoughts, opinions, and all that? Lemme know! R &R!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note: Hola! If you're wondering why I'm back so early it's because this chapter is mostly a fluffy filler! P.S. if you like this story I'd recommend checking out my collection of Descendants One-Shots. Now that the self-promotion is out of the way, on with the story!**

 **Disclaimer: The amount of sex jokes in this compared to the movie should tell you that I don't own it. This doubles as a warning so I hope you read this!**

It was almost seven in the morning when Ben knocked on the VKs door.

"Who is it?" he heard Evie question in her usual soft voice.

"It's Ben. Can I come in?"

He saw a flash of green from the slit under the door before his girlfriend's voice called out.

"It's open!"

The young king stepped inside, closing the door behind him, and took in his surrounding.

His eyes immediately trained themselves on Mal first.

The daughter of Maleficent was already dressed in her usual attire. She wore a purple shirt splattered with vibrant splotches of green and pink. Over it was a black leather jacket that faded to pink at the sleeves. Tight, dark green pants showed off her legs, and the whole outfit was finished off with her usual black combat boots.

Her violet locks framed the soft features of her pale face perfectly.

She wasn't wearing any makeup except for a bit of mascara that brought attention to her striking green eyes.

Ben couldn't even imagine someone more beautiful.

The purple-haired girl glanced up at him from the drawing she was currently working on and shot him a quick smile.

It was a simple, casual thing, but the young royal almost melted.

As he walked over to sit next to her at the foot of the bed, his eyes flickered over the other occupants of the room.

Evie stood in front of the mirror applying a coat of lipgloss. She'd already gotten dressed in a pair of black leggings, navy pumps, and a simple blue dress with dashes of red and black. Her hair was back in a french braid.

At the head of the bed sat Jay, leaning against the intricate designs of the wooden headboard with his arm wrapped around his boyfriend. He was the only one in the room still in his pajamas, grey sweatpants and black socks, but Ben could tell he'd been awake at some point because he was wearing headphones and appeared to be listening to music.

The young king thought the thief may have been dozing. Though he wasn't quite sure.

The youngest of the group was curled into the son of Jafar's side, book in hand. He was dressed in his signature colors. A black leather jacket with splashes of red and white over a plain white tee, black shorts that faded out to a crimson at the bottom, simple black high-tops laced with white, and cherry-colored fingerless gloves.

The whole look was finished off with his usual dog-tail clipped to his side.

It was such a domestic sight, the four of them together.

Ben smiled as he sat down next to his girlfriend, leaning down to give her a chaste good morning kiss.

"How was your night?" he asks after they break apart.

"It was alright. Yours?" she shrugged, darkening a line of her sketch.

"Good. However, I have some unfortunate news.. We had some kitchen appliances malfunction, so breakfast isn't really looking like much of an option until we can get someone out here to fix them."

The purple-haired girl's hand paused as she blinked and looked back up at him.

"Just have C fix it," she stated as if it were completely obvious.

Now Ben was confused. Was Carlos good with machines or something? He had no idea.

"Do you think he could?" the young king questioned, tilting his head at his girlfriend.

Mal snorted.

"Sweetheart, if you set Carlos loose in a junkyard for a couple of hours, he could probably build you a whole new set of appliances that worked twice as good as the originals."

That was surprising, and apparently it showed on Ben's face considering the way Mal's lips quirked into a smile.

"You do realize the runt's a mini-genius?" she raised an eyebrow to which her boyfriend shook his head.

"You didn't know that?" Evie joined in.

Now finished with her makeup, she sat next to the daughter of Maleficent.

"Well I knew he was smart, but.." Ben trailed off.

The purple-haired girl perked up as of she'd gotten an idea.

"Hey, did Auradon ever notice something odd about the Isle around say.. Eight months ago? Maybe with the barrier?" she asked, clearly trying to get her boyfriend to pick up on something.

The young king bit his lip in thought, trying to recall if something out of the usual had happened.

He snapped his fingers when it finally hit him.

"The magic gave out for a few seconds or something. It was like someone had punched a hole in the barrier and it shattered like glass before the spell kicked back in."

The girls both nodded, gesturing for him to continue.

"What.. What does that have to do with anything..?" he asked, not quite understanding what they were getting at.

They both sighed in sync.

"Carlos built a device and broke the barrier with it," Evie enlightened.

Ben, stunned by this development, whirled on the de Vil, "You did _what!?_ "

The pale boy didn't even look up from his book.

"I broke the barrier. Can you really blame me?"

Honestly, he couldn't. The young king knew that if he had been in the VK's position, he would've tried just about anything and everything to escape.

The girls both laughed.

"Yep. The runt's a nerdy little tech-freak," Mal stated so elegantly, earning a dirty look from said tech-freak.

Her boyfriend sighed and shook his head, "Anyways, would you maybe be willing to see if you could fix the appliances, Carlos?"

The freckled teen's head shot up, a crazy look in his eyes.

"Oh no, you've unleashed the mad-scientist," Evie giggled.

"Seriously Ben, you don't have to ask. He's always looking for a chance to tinker around with things that could possibly explode," the daughter of Maleficent rolled her eyes.

The de Vil went to stand up, only to have his boyfriend lock an arm around his waist in a vice-like grip.

Carlos groaned and turned to face the taller teen.

" _Jaaaaaaaaaay_ ," he whined, getting a playful smirk thrown his way.

"Hmm?"

"Let me get up," the smaller boy commanded.

"No. My Carlos," Jay protested, bringing the brainiac in his captivity into a tight hug.

The pale teen sighed in exasperation and turned his head up to whisper something to the Arabian.

The thief's eyes snapped open and he instantly released his boyfriend.

Smiling victoriously, the youngest of the group hopped up and shuffled over to the corner where his bag was resting.

"Geez, that was fast. What'd you do? Threaten to withhold sex?" Mal whistled.

" _What?_ " Carlos squeaked, turning a lovely shade of pink as he slung his bag over his shoulder.

The rest of the room's occupants laughed.

"Wow Mal, how'd you know?" Jay asked, faking astonishment.

" _Jay!_ " the blond nearly shrieked, his face darkening even more.

"Take a deep breath, C. We know that's not what you said," the daughter of the Evil Queen smiled, trying to stifle her giggles.

"Yeah, well now I'm actually going to do just that. Thanks for the suggestion, Mal" he nodded to the purple-haired girl.

The thief instantly stopped laughing and began whining about how that was too harsh.

Carlos simply ignored him and turned to Ben.

"Lead the way to the kitchen."

* * *

A few minutes later, Ben and the VK were all scattered around the kitchen.

Thankfully, Jay had gotten dressed after having a lamp magically levitated towards his face.

A stout woman in a dress and apron with graying hair and a friendly smile entered.

She quickly walked forward to give Ben a hug whilst making a comment about what a handsome young man he was becoming.

When she'd pulled away, she turned to the four VKs.

"You must be Ben's friends! It's so wonderful to finally meet you!" She bustled around the kitchen, giving each teen a hug which they awkwardly accepted.

"Oh where are my manners!?" the woman exclaimed, "I'm Mrs. Potts. And you all are?"

"I'm Mal. That's Jay, Evie, and Carlos," the daughter of Maleficent introduced, pointing at each of her friends in turn.

Mrs. Potts didn't miss a beat.

"Oh my! You're Ben's girlfriend! He's told me lots about you."

The woman turned to the now slightly flustered boy.

"You didn't tell me she was _this_ gorgeous!" she hissed, smacking his arm playfully with a dish towel.

"Well words can only say so much," the young king defended.

Now it was Mal's turn to be the flustered one.

Mrs. Potts let out a hearty laugh before changing topics.

"So what brings you kids to the kitchen? I'm sorry to say most of the appliances aren't really working at the moment."

"That's actually why we're here. Carlos has offered to fix whatever is broken. He's apparently pretty good with this sort of stuff," Ben spoke up, clapping a hand down on said teen's shoulder.

Though he quickly removed the offending hand after receiving a glare from Jay.

Surprised, the gray-haired woman scuttled over to the de Vil.

"Are you sure, sweetheart? Some of this stuff is kind of dangerous. I don't want you hurting yourself," she frowned in concern.

Mal butted in, grinning, "Explosives are kind of his favorite thing to work with."

Mrs. Potts blinked.

"Well alright then. Just be careful okay, darling?"

Carlos nodded, struggling not to wince at the familiar pet-name. His mother loved calling him that when she was trying to manipulate him. It was more creepy than anything really. She'd actually pet his hair whilst using a sickly-sweet tone. He hated it, but it seemed to make her happy. And a happy Cruella meant less bruises and cigarette burns for Carlos.

"So um, what seems to be not-working?" he asked quietly, feeling rather shy around the outgoing woman.

She went on to explain what appliances were broken and what they weren't doing properly.

The pale boy listened intently, the gears of his brain whirring.

Once she had told him everything and answered any questions he had to the best of her ability, he pulled his tools out of his bag and got to work.

First he fixed the blender as it seemed to be the easiest thing.

He'd completely dismantled it, readjusted the wonky parts, and put it all back together in under ten minutes.

All the while his friends watched. It was kind of strange seeing the normally awkward and clumsy Carlos look so relaxed in his element.

After he got the blender running normally, he moved on to the toaster. He repeated the same process he'd used with the previous appliance. Although this one took him a little longer due to the fact that he wasn't used to metal parts that weren't rusted.

The entire thing took him about 25 minutes. Give or take.

The stove was next. He'd pried it apart with some difficulty, but managed to find and fix the problem in a little over half an hour.

Now came the hardest part, the oven.

After checking the inside, he concluded that the issue must be something with the wiring.

He leaned against the counter and chewed his lip, debating how he wanted to go about solving it.

Eventually, he turned to Ben and Jay.

"Could you guys maybe pull the oven a little ways away from the wall?"

The young king was a little stunned by the request, while the thief was completely unfazed.

He walked over and took position on one side before sighing and waving Ben over.

"Well come on. I can't move it by myself."

Trying to ignore how crazy it all was, the royal hurried over and mirrored his friend's pose.

"Ready? 1… 2… 3!"

They heaved the appliance away from the wall.

Jay grunted whilst Ben let out a beastly growl.

It took a few tries, but they managed to get a few inches of space between the oven and the kitchen backsplash.

"Thanks," Carlos nodded at the two.

He moved to wedge himself back into the corner, pecking the son of Jafar's cheek as he did so.

"Are you sure that's enough room?" Ben frowned, not seeing how the freckled boy could possibly work with such little area.

"Yeah. I have small hands and long fingers. I'll be fine," Carlos shrugged.

"Trust me. I know," Jay smirked, wiggling his eyebrows.

He lost the smug look a moment later because he was too busy dodging the screwdriver that was flying at his face.

* * *

It took nearly 45 minutes for the de Vil _just_ to find what was wrong. It would've taken half that time had he actually had time to study a manual in the past. But sadly, he'd never managed to come across one during his time on the Isle or in Auradon.

The fact that he couldn't really see what he was doing and just had to go by feeling wasn't helping much either.

Thankfully though, now that he knew where the problem was he could figure out how to solve it.

Eventually he determined whoever had put the oven together had wired it incorrectly.

The blond was surprised the thing had even worked at all to begin with. And for this long too.

He moved to grab a tool before turning back and returning to the mess of colorful cables.

For what must have been an hour plugged, unplugged, stripped, clipped, and twisted the bundle.

"How is everything going?" Mrs. Potts called, popping into the kitchen to check on his progress.

Next to her stood Anita. It was apparent by the matching cups that the two women were likely chatting over tea.

"Good. I found the problem a little while ago.." he mumbled at a barely coherent volume; focusing on the strand of blue-coated metal in his fingers.

"Do you mind if we stay in here and watch you work?" Anita questioned, curiosity lacing her tone.

Carlos shook his head.

"Not at all."

* * *

Just as he was finishing up he made his first mistake.

Because he was working in such cramped conditions for such a long period of time, he'd begun to shift and squirm without realizing.

This caused him to grab the wrong wire by mistake and get a pretty bad shock.

The blond let out a yelp. His entire body jolting before going rigid.

Fortunately, he was able to let go of the copper strand and the electricity stopped pouring into him.

"Carlos? Are you alright? What happened?"

The two women were by his side in an instant, his friends and boyfriend not far behind them.

"M'fine. J-Just a little zap," he answered.

The two women apparently didn't think it was such a casual thing judging by their expressions.

Deciding it was best to just let them process, the pale teen simply shook himself off and brought his hand to his mouth.

After nursing the electrical burn for a brief moment, he went back to work and quickly fixed the last wire.

"Done."

The two were still staring at him.

Confused and starting to become uncomfortable, the son of Cruella glanced between his friends and the women in search of answers.

"…What?" he asked nervously.

Anita shook her head in disbelief and kneeled in front of him, taking his wrist gently yet firmly.

The blond didn't quite understand what she was doing, so he just allowed her to continue.

Mrs. Radcliffe gently peeled his glove away and was confused to find his hand already bandaged.

The wrappings wound around his hand and up his wrist until she disappeared under his sleeve.

Frowning, she untied the dressing and pulled it away. She had to reign in her shock when she saw several more faded scars similar appearance to the injury he'd just received.

The thing that surprised her most however was the the familiar black and purple image of two dragons coming together to form a heart. She recalled seeing the icon earlier on the back of Maleficent's daughter's jacket.

After quickly swiping her thumb over it, she concluded that it was in fact a tattoo.

Her curiosity now getting the best of her, she pushed up the pale boy's jacket to his elbow and began to undo the rest of the bandages.

Upon realizing her intentions, Carlos inhaled sharply and jerked his arm away, hastily yanking his sleeve back down.

The action sent alarm bells off in Anita's head; red flags popping up everywhere.

When she reached out in an attempt to set a hand on his shoulder, he pretty much slammed himself back into the wall behind him he scrambled back so fast.

Anita furrowed her brow and moved away to give him some space; noticing the way his eyes were shifting around the room in search of an escape route.

"I'm sorry. I should have asked," she apologized softly.

His gaze snapped back to her when she spoke. He studied her for a moment, then gave her a minuscule nod in response.

She sent him a tender smile and stood up slowly, offering him a hand.

The freckled teen stared at the extended hand before hesitantly accepting it and allowing her to help him to his feet.

Once he was back upright, he carefully slid past her to hide behind Jay, rewinding the bandages and tugging his glove back on in the process.

The older boy didn't hesitate to pull his skittish boyfriend into his side protectively, sending him a reassuring smile.

Anita watched the two interact with a tiny smile quirking at the corners of her lips.

It was clear to her that she'd have a long way to go if she intended to form any kind of bond with Carlos, but the sight in front of her at least proved it to be possible.

With a small sigh she ran over the recent events in her head, deciding to speak with her husband later.

 **AN: What'd y'all think? R &R!**


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